Near To You
by sarahbell86
Summary: The story of Ethan Lovett and Kristina Davis from strangers, to friends, to something more.
1. Chapter 1: Trust

**Title:** Near To You (1/?)

**Author:** sarahbell05

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating:** PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse.

**Warnings:** Kristina is underage (17) and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count:** 1035

**Summary:** Ethan cares for Kristina after Kiefer attacks her.

**Notes:** I think this may be the first Ethan/Kristina fanfic so I'm hoping I do it justice. :)

**Trust**

The first time she texts him, he's closing up the Haunted Star. It's somewhere around four in the morning, and the shrill beeping of the notification in the silent casino makes him jump.

_Could you come to the docks? - Kristina_

He's only spoken to the teen a handful of times, but before he knows it he's locking up the casino and heading toward the docks. He knows in his bones something has to be wrong for a well-to-do daughter of a former DA to be wandering Port Charles in the middle of the night and texting someone like Ethan Lovett.

Her finds her on the stairs, her head resting against her knees. Her face is hidden but he can see her shoulders shaking. She looks even smaller than normal, and he approaches her slowly before placing his hand on the back of her head. The shaking stops but she doesn't look up. He kneels down and uses his other hand to guide her face upwards, and has to force down the gasp at the sight of her bruised face. Her bottom lip is swollen, there is a gash on her cheek, and her right eye is quickly turning purple. There are tear stains running down her face and they well up in her eyes again when she looks at him.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't have anyone else to call. My mom..." her voice cracks and he doesn't say anything, just lifts her into his arms and heads back to the Haunted Star. Her arms are wrapped around his neck and she is silent as he crosses the few blocks to his father's casino. It's a quick trip, even with the added weight of Kristina in his arms, and soon he's setting her down gently on the small couch in his living area above the casino. She immediately curls in on herself, pulling her knees up to her chest and staring off into the distance.

He creates a makeshift ice pack out of a few cubes and a kitchen towel and returns to the couch with that and a first aid kit.

"Put this on your eye." It's the first thing he's said to her, and Kristina flinches at his voice but takes the ice pack wordlessly. He set to work on the rest of her face, pulling out the neosporin and pressing some onto his index finger. He moves toward her busted lip but she instantly recoils, pushing herself against the edge of the couch.

"I'm not going to hurt you." he says in what he hopes is a soothing voice. It seems to work and she moves just close enough for him to reach her. He dabs a bit on her lip before moving to the cut on her cheek. It's not as bad as he had originally thought, and the cut has already stopped bleeding. He covers it with a band-aid, closes the first aid kit, and sets it aside. He thinks Kristina seems to have calmed down a bit, so he takes his chance to inspect her eye.

She turns to him as he rests his hand over hers, pulling the ice pack away from her.

"That's quite a shiner." he says, outlining the darkening bruise with his thumb. She winces but doesn't move. After a moment, he sighs and sits back.

"So, are you going to tell me who did this to you?" he asks, though Ethan's pretty sure he knows the answer.

"It doesn't matter." she finally says, fingering the hem of her skirt.

"It _does_ matter." he insists, but doesn't say anything more. Her lack of an answer is all he needs to know, but a few moments later she mutters an almost-silent answer of "my boyfriend, Kiefer."

After a few minutes, he gets up to pull a blanket and pillow off of his bed.

"Get some sleep, it's late." he says, and Kristina only nods and moves down further onto the couch, tucking the pillow under her head as he drapes the comforter over her. Once he's sure she's settled, he heads for the door.

"Where are you going?" she says, her voice slightly muffled by the pillow and blanket.

"I've got to finish closing up downstairs. I'll be back. Go to sleep." With that, he closes the door and heads straight for the exit. As he's walking out, he uses his phone to look up everyone in Port Charles with the name of Bauer. Thankfully, there's only one listing in a neighborhood affluent enough for Kristina's boyfriend's family.

He returns to the apartment a few hours later, none the worse for wear. His theory on men who beat on women has been proven true once again: when faced with someone who can fight back, they're weak. Some caveman part of him is proud of the fact that Kiefer has walked away from the night with more bruises than Kristina. He also feels insanely stupid, for not realizing that day on the docks that the 'falling while texting' story had been a load of crap.

He steps into his apartment and finds Kristina fully awake, channel surfing on the small TV near the couch.

"I thought you were supposed to be asleep." he says as he steps through the doorway. Kristina shoots a glare at him, made all the more harsh by her injuries.

"I thought _you_ were supposed to be downstairs."

"I had something to take care of."

"Let me guess, did it involve Kiefer?" Kristina spits out the last word, but Ethan doesn't deny it. She stands up and suddenly she's way too close to him, obviously trying to intimidate him but the effort the petite girl is making makes him want to laugh.

"You're an idiot." she says, but a second later she throws her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her. He instinctively wraps his arms around her waist, and decidedly ignores the warm feeling it gives him.

"But thank you." she whispers. She pulls away, and grabs her things before heading toward the door. She turns to him again and gives a small smile before leaving.

And suddenly, Ethan's acutely aware of the emptiness of the apartment.


	2. Chapter 2: Friendship

**Author:** sarahbell05

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating:** PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse.

**Warnings:** Kristina is underage (17) and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count:** 1212

**Summary:** Ethan and Kristina grow closer.

**Notes:** Sorry about this taking so long! I hope to have the next chapter up much quicker.

**Friendship**

"Who said you could change the channel?" Ethan snaps, rolling his eyes as Kristina takes away his football match and replaces it with one of those 'reality' shows on MTV he avoids like the plague. He looks over and Kristina just shrugs and grabs another handful of popcorn out of the bowl placed between them.

"I'll turn it back after the commercials." Kristina finally replies, and Ethan nods but knows she won't and decides it's not worth fighting over.

It's been about a month since Ethan had found Kristina on the docks. Since then, she's taken to showing up at his place once or twice per week. Mostly they just hang out and watch television or play video games. Kristina's surprisingly good, and Ethan has stopped giving her tips because he's fairly sure she'll soon be able to beat him. Under normal circumstances he would've found a way out of the situation weeks ago, but something told him that Kristina needed a friend. She'd assured him her relationship with Kiefer was over but she was obviously still shaken by the ordeal. If he could help the sweet girl move on by giving her a little company, it was a small price to pay. He also had to grudgingly admit it was nice to spend time with someone who was not a Spencer.

"I've got to go!" Kristina's statement pulls Ethan from his thoughts and he watches as she hurriedly gathers her things. "I completely forgot I have study group."

"Oh, alright." Ethan helps her with her things as they head toward the door. A moment after she steps through the door, she turns back around to face him.

"My mom's out of town on business so I have to swing by Sam's and pick up Molly after study group. We're going to stop at Kelly's for a burger if you want to meet us there."

As always, he feels a moment of hesitation at her invitation. He's not an idiot, after all. He knows when a girl has a crush on him, and Kristina doesn't make much of an effort to hide it. But, before he can think about it any more he agrees and she leaves. He knows he has two hours before she'll be done with her study group (and just _why_ he knows that he's not sure) and finds himself quickly going stir-crazy in the newly empty apartment. Grabbing his jacket, he heads downstairs to the casino to waste time running through the bar inventory. He pauses, realizing that mere months ago he most certainly would not be having dinner with a teenager and her little sister, much less voluntarily doing inventory. Things certainly had changed.

Mike greets Ethan with a quick wave from behind the counter as he steps into Jake's and Ethan returns the greeting as he scans the restaurant, finding Kristina and Molly in one of the corner tables. Molly waves him over enthusiastically, which causes Kristina to look up from her book. Her smile as she meets his eyes makes Ethan smile wider as he takes a seat next to Molly, who immediately pulls him into a conversation about her latest science experiment.

He listens to Molly, but finds himself watching Kristina out of the corner of his eye. She's resting her head on her hand, her hair half-covering her face, reading intently. He only looks away when Mike brings them their food and Kristina puts her books away.

"So, how was study group?" he asks between bites of his burger.

"Fine." is all she says in reply, continuing to poke at her salad. Ethan shrugs and continues eating, but watches Kristina more closely.

He may have only known the girl for a few weeks, but he can tell that something is bothering her. She's not exactly frowning, but not smiling either, and she only says a handful of words during the meal. When he offers to walk her and Molly back home, she only gives a quiet 'thanks' and is silent next to him as they walk toward the Davis home. Even Molly seems to have picked up on the cues and is quiet, resting her head on Ethan's arm as they walk.

Molly is practically asleep against him when they arrive at the Davis house. He follows Kristina inside and she pulls Molly away, leading her into her bedroom. Ethan wanders over to the fireplace, where a dozen framed pictures are resting. Most are of Kristina and Molly, as well as a few of Sam McCall. One in particular catches his eye. It looks recent, last Christmas if the multi-colored lights in the background are any indication. Kristina and Molly are in their pajamas, arms wrapped around each other. He holds the frame in his hands and examines the photograph. The casual happiness on Kristina's face, makeup-free and hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, makes him smile. It also makes him hate Kiefer Bauer for dimming the radiance of the young girl.

He's pulled from his thoughts when he feels Kristina step up behind him.

"I love that picture." she says, and suddenly finds her feet very interesting.

"It's beautiful." he replies, setting the frame back onto the mantle.

"So," he says after a few moments of silence. "Are you going to tell me what happened at your study group? You were alright when you left my place and now you're obviously not."

Ethan feels his throat constrict, watching Kristina's face as she sits on the couch. She's staring out into space, wringing her hands, and he sat down next to her.

"Kiefer was at the library." she finally whispers, and Ethan feels his hands bunch up into fists at the mention of Kristina's ex-boyfriend.

"He didn't say anything, just looked at me as he was walking by. I just...I don't know, it just shook me. Growing up with my father, I've never really been afraid of anyone. But seeing him..." her voice cracks and Ethan does the only thing he can think of and pulls her to him. Her head lands on his shoulder as his arm goes around her. She's quiet but her shoulders are shaking so he pulls her in tighter.

They stay like that for a while, and soon Ethan begins to suspect Kristina has fallen asleep. He pulls her arms from around his waist and leans her against the back of the couch. The moment he pushes himself off of the couch she wakes up and grabs his hand.

"Don't leave." she says in a tired voice. Ethan opens his mouth to argue with her but she cuts him off.

"Please?" her voice is so small that he feels his defenses crumble instantly. When did this girl learn to work him so easily?

"Alright, I won't leave." he replies, and Kristina nods, already asleep again. He figures he could safely leave now, but he knows he won't. Grabbing the blanket on the back of the couch, he spreads it over Kristina before turning to the tiny loveseat that will be his bed for the evening.

Struggling as he tries to cover as much of himself as possible with his own blanket, he looks over at Kristina's peaceful face and resigns himself to an uncomfortable night's sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Rules

**Author:** sarahbell05

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating:** PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse.

**Warnings:** Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count:** 1695

**Summary:** Ethan is forced to set some boundaries in his relationship with Kristina.

**Notes:** I started writing this story after the Thanksgiving episode so this is now kind of an AU fic (most soap fics are though I think) because of the Christmas-cookie Kristina/Ethan/Kiefer thing. :) I apologize again for the lateness of this chapter, the holidays kept me away from the computer for a while.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this fic. It makes my day to read your messages and really inspires me.

**Rules**

"Merry Christmas!" Kristina sings as she lets herself into his apartment. She somehow conned him into giving her a key a few weeks ago, and he decides it's probably for the best, considering how often she shows up. It's reached the point that he's the person Alexis calls when she can't reach Kristina, and he's still not sure how he feels about that.

"Merry Christmas." he replies from the couch, but perks up when he spots the white box in her hands. She smiles widely and wiggles the box in his direction.

"Pumpkin cookies?" he asks and she nods. When he reaches for the box she pulls it just out of reach and Ethan finds he's actually pouting.

"Nope, not until we get to the house. Mom almost didn't forgive me for giving you one of our boxes at Thanksgiving."

It was Christmas Eve, and Kristina had all but ordered him to come with her to the Davis house before he was allowed to go to the Quartermaines.

"I thought we could walk to the house together." she says, and Ethan knows his apartment was definitely _not_ on the way from the bakery to the Davis household. But he's become used to Kristina's ways and says nothing. He stands up to follow her back out of the apartment but pauses when his phone rings. The caller ID flashes 'Lulu' and Ethan's soon pulled into a quick conversation about Luke losing his mind over yet another altercation with the code enforcer over the Haunted Star. He agrees to meet Lulu there and hangs up, immediately seeing the disappointment in Kristina's eyes.

"I have to go to the Quartermaines and try to keep Luke from getting arrested." he says apologetically. Kristina shrugs and Ethan immediately feels the urge to placate her. "I'll come by yours after I finish at the Quartermaines, yeah?"

"Sure." Kristina replies, the smile is back, and Ethan is relieved. He follows the young girl who has somehow become his closest friend out of his apartment and into the cold Port Charles air. He walks with her for as long as he can, listening to her ramble on about school, Michael, and her upcoming SATs. Even though he's only known Kristina for a few months even he can see the difference between now and when she was with Kiefer. The only way Ethan can think to describe it is that she shines, which makes him inwardly shake his head at himself for being so girly. They part with a wave and Ethan makes the rest of his trek to the Quartermaines alone, dreading the Spencer-Quartermaine eruption he knows he's probably walking into.

It takes four hours for everyone to calm down enough (and for Luke to sober up enough) for Ethan to leave. He also calls the code enforcer to apologize (again) and gets the man to agree not to press charges for Luke taking a swing at him.

It's a quick walk from the Quartermaine mansion to the Davis house, and he's surprised to find that Alexis' car is gone. He knocks on the door and is greeted by Kristina's surprised face.

"Hi! I figured that you'd forgotten about me." she jokes, and moves aside to let him in.

"Ah, never." he replies. "Where's Alexis? Her car's gone."

"Oh, she got called into work, some kind of emergency." Kristina replies and reaches for a plate on the dining table, where two pumpking cookies are resting. "I saved one for you."

Ethan smiles and takes the cookie, while Kristina takes the other one. He sits on the couch and Kristina sits beside him.

"Your tree looks amazing." he says after a few minutes of silence and Kristina smiles.

"Thanks. Mom did most of it. She's kind of controlling like that." she says, and Ethan smirks. "I like yours better though." she cracks and Ethan full out laughs at that. Kristina had somehow convinced him his tiny studio apartment needed a "real" tree and dragged him to the tree lot, the decoration store, and they spent an evening decorating a tree that took up a good third of his living area. It was messy and disorganized compared to the gorgeous red-and-gold tree resting the Davis living room, but Ethan had to admit he thinks his might be better too.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Kristina says and reaches behind the couch, pulling out a a small square package wrapped in vibrant Christmas paper and covered in bows. "Molly wrapped it." she adds, handing it to him. He fights the urge to rip open the packaging like a five year old and gently pulls it open. The wrapping comes off to reveal a book, the Sydney Opera House on the cover and the word AUSTRALIA emblazoned on the top.

"I'm sure you've seen all of those places in person, but I thought, you know, it could be a little reminder of home.

"Thank you." Ethan's ashamed when his voice cracks a bit but quickly covers it up by flipping through the book. Since his parents' deaths, he hasn't received many presents and he's moved by how important Port Charles and its residents have become to him. He sets the book down beside him and reaches inside his jacket for the small wrapped box resting in there. He's not sure what posessed him to buy the present several weeks ago, but he had seen it while shopping for his family and couldn't stop himself from purchasing it for Kristina.

"Happy Christmas." he says as he hands it to her and watches her eyes light up. She takes the long thin box and opens it much more quickly than he had opened his, unencumbered by the dozens of pieces of tape and six bows Molly had attached to his.

He hears her quiet gasp when she opens up the box and looks inside. Resting inside the box is a simple silver necklace, with a small blue sapphire pendant.

"I, uh...noticed you like to wear blue." he says, suddenly uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"It's beautiful Ethan. Thank you." she says, and Ethan relaxes slightly. She stands up and moves toward the small mirror resting on the mantle above the fireplace.

"Can you help me put it on?" she asks, and Ethan stands and takes the necklace from her while she pulls her hair up, exposing her neck to him. He sets the necklace around her neck and moves to fasten the clasp in the back. As he does so, his fingers brush the back of her neck and Kristina gasps. He's startled when a shock seems to run from his fingers and out into the rest of his body.

The clasp done, he lets the necklace fall onto Kristina's neck and she turns to face him. Her eyes are wide and he reckons his face looks fairly similar. She's close to him, close enough that he can catch the sweet scent of her perfume. They've never been this close, not since the night in this very room that she had broken down over Kiefer in front of him. This is different though, Ethan can feel the difference in himself and in the air around them. They're still staring at each other and Ethan's body refuses to move, mostly because he's not sure if he wants to move away or move closer to girl in front of him.

The dilemma is solved for him when headlights shine through the windows, signaling the return of Alexis. The spell is broken and Ethan steps away.

"I should go." he finally says, grabbing his book off of the couch and moving toward the door, his eyes looking everywhere but at Kristina. "Thank you for the book."

Alexis walks in as he turns for the door and he suddenly feels extremely guilty under her gaze.

"Ethan, what a surprise."

"Hello Ms. Davis." he replies and moves to slide between her and the door. "Merry Christmas." he adds and slips out before Alexis can reply.

He practically jogs back to his apartment, his mind racing with thoughts of what had happened during those few moments. He knew Kristina had a crush on him, sure, but she never acted like she expected anything and had never been more than friendly toward him. He recognized that Kristina was a beautiful girl, sure, but he also knew she was far too young for him and still too raw after Kiefer for anything more than friendship yet.

The thought stopped his whirling mind in its tracks. He shouldn't even be _thinking_ about having anything more than frienship with Kristina ever. But was he? After all, he always went after the dark and mysterious rebel type - hence his attraction to Rebecca. He didn't do cute and bubbly, much less teenage cute and bubbly. Then again, he usually wasn't friends with cute and bubbly and Kristina was probably at this point the best friend he'd ever had. He knew his time in Port Charles was changing him in more ways than he realized - giving him roots, a family, friends. He had been sure though that it wasn't changing who he was at a base level - a con man and a general 'bad boy.'

The thought of any romantic feelings for Kristina had never even occured to him, but now he couldn't help but think of the spark of electricity he had felt when his hand had brushed her neck. He'd never felt that with anyone - but what was it? What did it mean?

He arrived back in his apartment and collapsed onto his bed, willing his thoughts into order. The truth was, it didn't matter what he had felt in that moment. Kristina was a child compared to him, it was wrong and on top of that any kind of romantic feelings would do nothing but ruin his closest friendship. By the time he finally gave in to sleep he felt more at ease with what had happened and decided it was just a fluke brought on by the touching gift she had given him. It wouldn't happen again.

He wouldn't _let _it happen again.


	4. Chapter 4: Passion

**Author:** sarahbell05

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating:** PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse.

**Warnings:** Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count:** 2685

**Summary:** Ethan and Kristina's friendship becomes something more..

**Notes:** This takes place about two months after the last chapter. I apologize (again) for the wait. But, as you can see, this is an extra-long chapter as a result. :) Also, this is totally and completely NOT where I was going with this chapter (and this story as a whole) but it seems my muse has other ideas so we're all going to find out what happens together lol

**Passion**

Spring has finally come to Port Charles, and Ethan is happy to spot the first shoots of green coming from the trees as he heads toward Kelly's. He's got a night off from the Haunted Star, and was meeting Lulu and Dante for dinner before heading to Jake's for drinks. He had to admit, the undercover cop had grown on him (no doubt things changed _after_ he found out Dante was not in fact a gangster).

He rounds the last corner that will lead him to Jake's when he spots a familiar face at one of the outdoor tables. Even with her head down and her hair half-covering her face Ethan can spot his best friend (yes, he can finally admit it) from a mile away. She's furiously scribbling in a notebook, her eyes darting from it to the open textbook next to it. Her eyebrows are furrowed together, her 'concentrating' look causing a crease in her forehead that Ethan is forced to admit is adorable. She still hasn't noticed him, and he gets as far as sitting down in the chair across from hers before she looks up.

"Oh, hi!" she says, and Ethan rolls his eyes. In a city like Port Charles, being unobservant is decidedly not a good thing. He bites his tongue to keep from chastising her and grabs her drink from across the table, taking a sip.

"Sure, you can have some of my drink." she snaps, but the smile on her face lets him know she's joking. He takes another sip before handing it back to her, and she sticks her tongue out at him as she grabs it.

"Math?" he asks, glancing at the textbook. She nods, and sticks her notebook inside of the textbook to keep her place before setting it aside.

"I'm just waiting on Lulu and Dante, I didn't mean to keep you from your studies." he says, but Kristina brushes it off with a wave.

"I needed a break anyway. So what are you and the dashing couple doing tonight?"

"Molly's spending too much time around Spinelli. They're starting to influence you." he jokes, before answering her question. "Dinner here and then we're going to Jake's."

"That's nice. It's good that you're building a relationship with your family." He knew Kristina had a lot to do with this. She'd pushed him to develop friendships with Lulu and especially Lucky, who he had always had a kind of antagonistic relationship with.

"Hello!" he looks up at the greeting and finds Lulu and Dante heading toward the table.

"Hello little sister." Ethan greets, and nods to Dante.

"Sorry if we were interrupting." Dante says, and Lulu elbows him sharply.

"Of course we weren't interrupting!" Lulu replies, and Ethan shoots his sister his 'what is wrong with you?' look. "Are you ready for dinner?"

"Uh, sure." Ethan replies and stands up. He turns to say goodbye to Kristina but is interrupted by Dante.

"You're welcome to join us Kristina." the former mob thug says, and Lulu stares at him with wide eyes. Ethan just knows Lulu's about ten seconds away from her legendary screeching.

"Oh, that's alright." Kristina replies, but won't look Ethan in the eye. "I don't want to ruin your plans." Ethan suddenly feels as if he's been punched in the gut and he doesn't know why.

"Come on, you aren't ruining anything." he says before Lulu can agree with the poor girl, and gathers her books in his arms to show he's serious. Kristina finally looks at him, and gives him a small smile as she grabs her bags.

They follow Lulu and Dante into the restaurant, and Lulu gives Dante another apalled look when he pulls out a chair for her and takes the seat next to her, leaving he and Kristina to sit on the other side. Watching his sister in the few minutes they've been here, Ethan's fairly sure the Spencer girl has lost her mind (again). They order, and Lulu seems to relax a bit as Kristina pulls her into a conversation about her job at Crimson. He knew Kristina didn't put much stock in labels, but he was surprised at how knowledgeable she was on the subject of fashion. By the end of the meal Kristina and Lulu were talking like old friends and even he and Dante were able to keep up a conversation. Ethan had to admit, spending the evening with his sister and his best friend was the most fun he had had in a long time.

The quick meal stretched out into several cups of coffee (hot chocolate for Kristina - Ethan did _not_ want to relive a caffeinated Kris again), only brought to an end when Kristina realized what time it was.

"Oh my god, I've got to go. I was supposed to be home twenty minutes ago!" Kristina tells the group as she throws her things into her bag. This sets them all off as they realize they've spent half the night at Kelly's. Ethan watches as Kristina hugs Lulu and waves to Dominic before enveloping him in a hug and bolting out of the door. He doesn't realize he's watching the empty doorway until he feels Lulu punch him in the arm and drag him toward the door.

They've been at Jake's for about an hour and he can tell Lulu's already on her way to having a good time. She's currently moving around the small dance floor with Dante and Maxie, and he can hear her laugh over the music as Dante picks her up and spins her. As the song ends she whispers something in Dante's ear and pushes him toward Maxie, who grabs onto him as if she knew it was coming. He catches Lulu's eye as she moves toward him and he's momentarily panicking at the thought of being dragged out onto the dance floor, but Lulu only grabs her beer resting by him and leans against the bar. There's silence but Ethan can tell Lulu's dying to say something. After a long moment she turns toward him and he knows it's coming now.

"So," she begins, looking him dead in the eye. "What's going on with you and Kristina?"

Ethan almost chokes on the sip of beer he's just pulled from the bottle, "What do you mean?" he finally gets out after recovering.

"Don't do that with me, Lovett. I'm not an idiot."

"There's _nothing_ going on between me and Kristina. She's my friend."

Lulu only raises her eyebrow in response so Ethan tries again. "I'm serious, she's like my little sister."

"Well, _I'm_ your little sister Ethan and I know you don't look at me the way you look at her."

"Come on Lulu, she's a kid!" he replies, and finds himself picking at the label of his beer.

"She's not a kid Ethan. She hasn't been a kid for a while."

"Why are we talking about this?" he snaps, annd Lulu puts her hands up in defense.

"I just want you to be happy. I know Rebecca broke your heart, but you have a right to find someone else. And, believe me, you may not know it yet, but you're at least half in-love with Kristina. And you shouldn't let something like an age difference get in the way." With that, Lulu saunters back off to the group on the dance floor, leaving Dante with Maxie and grabbing Spinelli from the nearby table.

Ethan watches them for a while, but his mind is whirling so he throws down a couple of bills for his drinks and slips out without anyone noticing. He starts walking with nowhere in particular in mind. It's a nice night, so he wanders until he finds himself in front of the Davis house. Once he realizes he turns to head back the way he came when he spots Kristina bolting out of the house. She stops dead in her tracks at the sight of Ethan, and when he sees the panic in her eyes he races across the street and is in front of her before he even realizes he's moved.

"What's wrong?" Up close, he can see the unshed tears in her eyes and grabs her hands, willing her to answer his question.

"It's Molly, she's sick. She...she wouldn't wake up. Mom took her to the hospital, but...I don't know what's wrong."

Without another word, Ethan grabs the keys to Kristina's car and guides her around to the passenger seat before jumping into the driver's side and practically peeling out of the driveway and towards General Hospital.

Kristina's been silent since they left her house, but she grips his hand tightly as they walk through the doors of General Hospital, and Ethan squeezes her hand in what he hopes is a reassuring way. The nurses' station is empty except for Elizabeth. Normally, after the hell Elizabeth had put his brother through the last few months, he would have avoided her at all costs, but this was for Kristina so he stepped up to the desk and cleared his throat.

"Ethan..." Elizabeth says, her eyes wide. She glances at Kristina and a knowing look crosses her face as she grabs a nearby file.

"They're still running tests on Molly, so I'm not sure of her current status. She was unconscious when she arrived but woke up before they took her upstairs. She's stable, and Dr. Scorpio is taking care of her."

"Robin?!" Kristina gasps, and Ethan squeezes her hand tighter. "So, it's her...brain?" Kristina's voice chokes on the last word and Ethan feels his heart leap into his throat.

"Not necessarily honey. I'm sure it's just a precaution since she wasn't awake when she arrived. I think your mom is in the waiting room on the third floor if you want to go be with her. That's where Robin will go when she knows anything." Elizabeth steps out of the desk and gives Kristina's arm a squeeze before pointing them toward the elevators. Ethan nods his thanks at Elizabeth and guides Kristina toward the lift.

Kristina finally lets go of his hand when she sees Alexis in the waiting room. Alexis envelops her middle daughter in her arms and he can see the redness in the lawyer's eyes and he knows it's bad. He takes a seat, leaving the chair between his and Alexis' for Kristina. Once both of the women sit down, Kristina grabs his hand again - she's shaking, and Ethan rubs his thumb over her hand to try to soothe her. Alexis tells them she doesn't know anything, but after that they sit in silence, all three of them lost in their own thoughts. Ethan is worried for Kristina, but his heart is breaking at the thought of something happening to Molly. The girl, who has to be one of the smartest people he's ever met, has always had a smile for him. She's a sweet girl who doesn't deserve a bad thing to ever happen to her.

"You don't have to stay." Kristina says after a few moments.

"I'm fine right here." Ethan replies, and he hopes his face tells her he wouldn't leave if Kristina tried to push him out herself.

Kristina's hand slipping from his brings him out of his thoughts, and he jumps up when he sees Robin Scorpio coming into the waiting room. He stood behind Kristina, far enough to give her and her mother space but close enough to hear Dr. Scorpio.

"How is Molly?" Alexis asks the second she sees Robin, who gives her a small smile that allows Ethan to relax a slight bit.

"She's stable and in good condition. Apparently, she fell down some steps and hit her head at school. The hit caused some swelling that had a delayed affect. Patrick went in and reduced the swelling and she's doing fine now. We won't know for sure for a while but I don't think there's going to be any permanent damage."

The relief is obvious in Alexis' voice when she asks if they can see her.

"She's still asleep from the anesthesia, and probably will be for the rest of the night. You can stay with her, Alexis, but I'd wait on visitors until the morning."

"You stay with her mom, I'll go home and come back tomorrow." Kristina says as she hugs her mom.

"Okay baby, call me when you get home. I love you."

"I love you too." Kristina responds, and Ethan backs up to allow her room to pass. Before he follows her out of the room, Alexis grabs his arm.

"Thank you for being there for her Ethan." she says, and Ethan is shocked. While Alexis has learned to accept their friendship, she's never been a big fan of him.

"I'll always be there for her, Alexis. You and Molly too." he replies and gives her a small smile before following Kristina.

Kristina is silent once again on the ride back to her house, but the atmosphere is much less tense, and this time when she takes his hand in hers he knows it's more for comfort than the lifeline it had been before.

He follows her inside and takes his place on the couch while she disappears into her bedroom. She reappears when he settles on an old Roseanne rerun in her pajamas. She's washed off her makeup and pulled her hair up and Ethan's sure he's never seen her look better.

"I should probably go." he says, and pushes himself off of the couch. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you for staying with me and mom at the hospital."

"You're my best friend Krissy." he replies and pulls her into a hug. She fits against him perfectly, and Ethan has to force down yet again the feelings that have been growing in him since Christmas. She pulls away from him enough that he can see her face and he can't stop his hand from cupping her face at the happy smile he sees there.

If he hadn't been watching her face, he never would have caught the subtle change before she pressed her lips to his own. Ethan froze, and realized Kristina had as well, waiting for him to react. He pulled Kristina tighter against him, deepening the kiss. Kristina's arms went around his waist as his free arm went around hers. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she parted her lips to his. He turned them until he was facing the door and pressed her against it, never breaking the kiss. As he moved to kiss her neck, the soft sigh that escaped her broke the spell and he jerked away.

"Kristina..." he said in a harsh whisper, not daring to look at her.

"Ethan, I..." she began, but he cut her off.

"I should go." he tries, but she stepped in front of the doorknob.

"Wait. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have done that. Just, please, don't leave. I'm sorry, I know you don't like me like that. I don't know what I was thinking, you could do so much better than me..."

Before he knows what he's doing, he's kissing her again, with a fervency he didn't realize he had. He breaks away and takes her face in his hands.

"There is _no one _better than you, Krissy." he whispers and pulls her to him again, kissing her with gentleness this time. Kristina pushed his jacket off and he let it fall to the floor before pulling away again.

"Before you say it, Ethan," she interrupted, and Ethan had to smirk at that. "Yes, I'm sure."

Ethan was ready to argue the point further, but then Kristina was kissing him again and he found he had quite lost the will.

As she led him to her room, he knew this was such a bad idea on so many levels. That it would cause many problems and complications for them both. But now, with Kristina in his arms, he found that he really couldn't care.


	5. Chapter 5: Betrayal

**Author:** sarahbell05

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis, hint of Ethan/Maya Ward

**Rating:** PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse and underage sex.

**Warnings:** Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count:** 1948

**Summary:** The morning after, Ethan makes a mistake.

**Notes: **Bet you never saw this coming huh? lol I cannot apologize enough for how long this took. RL took over everything and then I had major writer's block. But we're back on track now! I also apologize where this chapter is taking our beloved Krithan, but I promise I believe in happy endings!

**Betrayal**

As he wakes, Ethan is thrown by the warm weight on his side. He cracks open an eye and all he can see is a mass of brown hair resting on his shoulder. As his brain catches up, memories of the previous night come flooding back.

They had quickly made their way from the living room to Kristina's bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing behind them. For him, it had been a blur and yet he remembered every second of it. Every touch, every kiss, every soft sigh that had come from his best friend as they'd made love, it was all deeply ingrained in his memory. Ethan had been with a lot of women in his life, but this had been different from anything he had ever experienced.

His musings are interrupted when Krissy moves beside him, her grip on his waist tightening. With the arm that is not underneath her head, he pushes her hair back enough so that he can see her face. She looks calm, in a way he had never seen her. In her sleep, she looks even younger and this is when reality comes crashing around Ethan. No matter what they felt for each other, the truth was that Kristina was little more than a child. It had been wrong - Ethan had known this from the moment he'd kissed her - and he never should have allowed it to escalate to this. Kristina had been through hell with her sister mere hours ago, and he'd taken advantage of that.

Carefully, he untangled himself from Kristina, thanking the various deities that she didn't wake up. He followed the clothing trail until he had picked up everything, slipping on his clothes and folding hers neatly before setting them on her dresser. He took one last look at her sleeping form before leaving the house.

During the walk back to his flat, Ethan's mind whirled. The quiet Port Charles streets were a striking contrast to the turmoil he felt inside. He knew he was at least half in love with Kristina, but he also was aware of all the ways this situation was bad. She was a young, beautiful girl with a bright future ahead of her, while he was a two-bit con man destined to spend his life bartending or some other dead end job until one of his schemes went wrong. Her mother, no matter how much she and Ethan had grown to accept each other, was still a former DA and would crucify him if she ever found out.

As he ran through his thoughts, he failed to register that his feet had changed direction of their own accord, and he soon found himself in front of Lulu's apartment building. From the street he could see the light coming from Lulu's apartment so he entered the building and quickly found himself in front of her door.

He knocked lightly, knowing Maxie and Spinelli were probably still asleep, and was surprised when Dante answered the door.

"Hey, Ethan. What's up?" Dante greeted, stepping out of the doorway to allow him entrance.

"I was hoping to speak to Lulu. Is she awake?" he replied.

"No, it's her day off so she's sleeping in." Dante replied, closing the door after Ethan had entered. "I have to go into the station today." he added, explaining why he was awake.

"Oh, well then, I'll just go then -" Ethan started, but was quickly cut off by Dante.

"Hey man, you left Jake's so suddenly. What's up with you?" Ethan hadn't had many conversations with the undercover cop, and this seemed like an odd time to 'bond', so Ethan remained silent.

However, he was taken aback when a few moments later Dante asked "Is this about Kristina?"

Ethan's eyes widened and he froze on the spot. Was he _really_ that obvious? Before he could respond, Dante continued.

"I'm sorry if I'm breaking some 'boyfriend of the little sister talking to the brother' rule, but, well...Lulu likes to talk."

Ethan couldn't fight the sigh that escaped him. He loved his sister, but she knew how to cause trouble. Telling the brother of the underage girl he may or may not have feelings for about said feelings, when the brother is a cop was bound to cause trouble.

"Ethan, I'm not one to judge, and it was pretty obvious there was something going on at dinner last night." Dante said, and sometimes he wished the cop wasn't so damn observant. Or that he wasn't so obvious.

Ethan collapsed onto the couch, his face hidden in his hands. He heard Dante sink into the chair next to the couch. It was odd to talk about this with someone who was both his sister's boyfriend and Kristina's brother, but there really wasn't anyone else and he knew Dante would be honest with him.

"I'm not sure." he finally said after a few moments. "It's...I mean, I'm not sure what I feel. She's my best friend, as odd as it sounds. She's so young and has so much potential. She's beautiful and smart. She's funny, and witty, and...even if I did have...._those_ kind of feelings for her, she deserves better."

Dante remained silent, and Ethan looked up to see him staring hard at Ethan. For a moment, Ethan was sure the cop was going to either pound his face in or shoot him. Probably both.

"Lulu was right." Dante said and shook his head. Ethan raised an eyebrow as Dante began to laugh.

"I thought she was reading too much into stuff, trying to see something that wasn't there." he continued through his laughs. "But she wasn't. You're in love with Kristina, Ethan."

Ethan didn't respond, just stared into space. It was as if everything they had been through over the last year was falling into place. Him "saving" her from Kiefer, their budding friendship, Christmas, the unspoken attraction...everything had been leading them to this moment.

He pushed himself off the couch and practically ran for the door. He through it open and left without a word. He could hear Dante calling after him, but Ethan just needed out of that apartment, out of that building, out of everything as fast as he could.

By the afternoon, Ethan had found himself in the park. He wandered through it aimlessly, trying not to think of what had transpired over the last twenty four hours. Even with Rebecca, the first woman he had thought himself truly "in love" with, it had never felt like this. During their trysts, she had never made Ethan feel the way Kristina had, and that feeling scared him more than anything. He had never stuck around a place long enough to form any lasting connections, and that had been the way he preferred things.

His train of thought was cut off by a familiar shape appearing as he turned a corner. He had known Maya for a few months now, since her arrival in Port Charles. Despite their rocky start, they had formed a fairly civil relationship, thanks to their family ties. He rarely saw the young doctor, but he decided a distraction was in order.

"Good afternoon Maya." he greeted, and the woman turned around at his voice and gave him a small smile.

"Hello Ethan. What are you doing here?" she asked, motioning around. Ethan followed her hand and noticed that he had entered the jogging trail area. He supposed that was why Maya was dressed in trackies and sneakers.

"Oh, I was just...um, wandering." he replied, feeling stupid immediately. Maya simply raised an eyebrow and let it go.

"Ok, well, judging by your attire you're not planning on jogging." she quipped, and Ethan rolled his eyes. Something about his disheveled and tired look seemed to catch Maya's attention though, because she grabbed the bag she had left on the ground and grabbed his arm.

"Come on, you look hungry." she said, steering him out of the park. "Let's have a burger on me." Ethan just nodded and let the Quartermaine woman lead her to Kelly's.

When they arrived, however, Ethan found he couldn't enter the place that reminded him so much of Kristina.

"Can we get it to go?" he asked, feeling extremely pathetic but letting it go. Maya nodded and left him outside while she got their orders. He checked his phone for the five hundredth time that day, but there were still no missed calls or texts. He told himself that was a good thing, but his body was saying something completely different.

A few minutes later Maya came back outside, two brown bags in her hands.

"So," she said, holding up the bags and smirking. "Your place or mine?"

The knock on Ethan's door knocks him out of the dead stupor he had been in. He didn't particularly remember falling asleep on the bed, but then again he didn't remember much after the seventh beer and sixth shot. How he and Maya had decided that getting quite that smashed had been a good idea, he'd never know.

the knock came again and Ethan fell rather ungracefully out of the bed before pushing himself off of the floor with a groan before heading toward the source of his disturbance. He was halfway to the door before he realized he was clad only in his boxers. He moved to the coffee table and grabbed his jeans (just how had they gotten there anyway?) and pulled them on before opening the door.

In his post-alcohol mind, he hadn't bothered to wonder who was at the door, so he was more than a little confused when he opened the door to reveal Kristina. He saw her eyes widen when she saw him, and it was then that he realized he'd also forgotten a shirt. A moment later she shook her head and seemed to regain her composure.

"I...I,um...came to see how you were." she said, looking anywhere but at him.

Ethan's mind was starting to catch up with his body, but before he could respond Kristina spoke again.

"It's just...well, you just left without saying anything and I wanted to apologize because I know you were just trying to be nice and I pushed things too far and...."

As she trailed off her eyes went over his shoulder and Ethan followed her gaze, finding Maya standing in his hallway in his shirt from the night before. Flashes of the night before came rushing back and Ethan whipped his head back around to Krissy, his eyes wide with panic.

"It's...it's not what it looks like Krissy."

At this Kristina returned her eyes to Ethan, and he felt as if he had been punched in the gut when he saw the unshed tears there.

"No, um...don't...don't worry about it. Uh, I'm gonna go." she whispered the last part and was gone before Ethan could even think about saying anything else.

"Was that Kristina Davis?" Maya asked as Ethan shut the door. He nodded, and obviously there was something written on his face because Maya suddenly looked thoroughly uncomfortable.

She disappeared into the bathroom then, reemerging a few minutes later dressed in her workout clothes from the day before. Ethan hadn't moved from his spot by the door and didn't even register Maya's presence in front of him until she placed a warm hand on his cheek.

"I'm not sure what's going on, but I hope you decide what you want soon Ethan." she said, and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek before leaving the apartment, leaving Ethan alone in the silence.

What had he done?


	6. Chapter 6: Forgiveness

**Title:** Near To You

**Author:** sarahbell05

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating:** PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse and underage sex.

**Warnings:** Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count:** 2576

**Summary:** Ethan tries to make things right.

**Notes:** Whoo-hoo, it didn't take me four months! :) Hope you all enjoy and know that all of your kind reviews mean the world to me.

**Forgiveness**

For the next month, Ethan is like a ghost. He doesn't leave the Haunted Star, just goes downstairs to bartend and heads back up to his flat as soon as his shift is over. He says a handful of words to Luke and flat ignores Lucky and Lulu's texts and calls. He hasn't even attempted to contact Kristina since that morning she had shown up at his flat.

Therefore, when Lulu shows up at his door, he's fully prepared to shut it in her face. She's ready though, and has swiped her father's copy of the key. Almost as soon as he locks it she's unlocked the damn thing and is standing in his living room, hands on her hips. He decides the best option is to sit on the couch and pretend to watch the football match currently playing. It seems his sister is not having it though, and grabs the remote from his hand and turns it off.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he yells, louder than he meant, but doesn't regret it.

"Me? What about _you_?" she retorts, throwing her hands in his general direction. "I have it on good authority you haven't left the Haunted Star in a month!"

"Excuse me for working." he snaps, and he knows he's being a brat but he can't muster up the energy to care.

"Oh, come on Ethan. This place is barely open, it's just dad's glorified playground. You cannot expect me to believe that you're so suddenly swamped with work you can't reply to any of my phone calls."

Ethan doesn't respond, and Lulu just sighs exasparatedly. "What about Kristina? Have you talked to her?" she asks, and every muscle in Ethan's body reacts. He locks up, and he knows that Lulu sees it.

"Ethan, what happened?" she asks gently, taking a seat next to him on the couch.

"I don't want to talk about it." he replies as he jumps up from the couch and heads for the solace of the kitchen. Lulu, being Lulu, follows him, unwilling to let it go so easily.

"Dante told me you came by the morning after we all went to Jake's. He wouldn't tell me why you were there though. Did something happen with Kristina? Is she okay?" At this, Ethan faces his sister and sees the genuine concern for him etched across her face.

"I slept with her." The words escape his mouth before he can stop them, and suddenly Lulu's expression changes to one of shock.

"Yeah," he continues, smirking. "And then, predictably, I managed to screw it up in the worst way possible."

Lulu doesn't press him for more information, just moves closer to him and places a reassuring hand on his arm.

"I'm sure you can fix it." she says after a moment, and Ethan shakes his head.

"Not this time." he replies. "I made love with Kristina and then went and slept with Maya the next day."

He half expects Lulu to slap him at this admission, and when she doesn't he lets his gaze meet hers. There's shock there, but also pity, which makes him feel even worse about the whole situation. No one should be feeling pity for him of all people.

"Does Kristina know?" she asks, and he nods. "Ethan, what _happened_?"

Ethan rubs his hands over his face and shrugs. "I don't know, I don't remember. One minute Maya and I were eating burgers and drinking, and the next Kristina was at my door and Maya was in my shirt."

Lulu sighed, and the two fell into silence before she pulled him into a hug.

"It'll be okay Ethan, trust me. But only if you at least try to fix things with Kristina."

Before he can respond, she turns and leaves his flat, and he's alone again.

Two hours after Lulu leaves, he gets a text from her asking him to meet her on the docks and that it's an emergency. His concern for his little sister overcomes his wish to remain in the sanctuary of his flat and he quickly changes and leaves, walking the short distance from the casino to the docks.

He should have known the text was suspicious, that Lulu always had some kind of plan up her sleeve, but the thought didn't even cross his mind until he saw Kristina standing on the docks where they had first exchanged phone numbers.

She hears his footsteps and turns. Shock is evident on her face when she sees him, but she doesn't run, which Ethan supposes is a good sign. He moves closer to her, and he sees there's something...different about her. Her skin is paler, the dark circles under eyes evident. She's still gorgeous as usual though, and Ethan feels that familiar tightening in his stomach from being in her presence. He gets within a few feet of her before she starts to move back, and Ethan freezes.

"Hi." he tries, after a tense silence settles over them. It's lame, but it's all he has.

"Hi." she replies, but she refuses to meet his gaze.

"Lulu?" he asks, and she nods. "I figured." he replies.

"I, uh...I should go..." she starts, but Ethan reaches out for her arm before she can turn away from him completely.

"Wait, baby, please..." she flinches at that and yanks her arm out of his grasp.

"Don't." she hisses, and he sees the tears well up in her eyes. "Don't call me that."

"Will you at least listen to what I have to say?" he asks, but at this she turns on him, eyes blazing.

"Why? Why should I?" she asks, and she moves toward him. He might be a good head taller than her, but he suddenly feels as if she's towering over him and he is sure now that there is a part of her father in her.

"I swore, after Kiefer, that I would never, _never_ let anyone hurt me like that again. But you...the way you hurt me...it's worse."

Ethan has no response, and he feels even more like the biggest scumbag to ever walk the earth.

"Krissy, I never meant to hurt you. I would never want to do anything to cause you pain, ever." he says after a moment.

"But you did. You did. I woke up, and you were gone. Without a word, without anything, you were just...gone. I thought maybe I had imagined the whole thing, that I had wanted you so much for so long that I was finally losing it completely. Then, I went to your apartment and find you with _Maya Ward_? I just...I just don't understand why."

Her voice breaks at the end and the tears are spilling down her cheeks. Ethan can't fight the urge any longer and he pulls her to him. The sensation of her in his arms is so familiar, and she only fights him for a moment before collapsing against him, the sobs racking her tiny body. His voice becomes a mantra of "I'm sorry," that he repeats until the shock of his own tears prevents him from continuing. He remembers the last time he cried - his parents' funeral when he was sixteen. He'd never cried since then, never let anything affect him in that way. But now, knowing the pain he had caused the one person he'd never wanted to hurt, was more than he could contain.

At some point, Kristina asks to go back to his apartment and Ethan agrees, knowing they need more privacy than the docks can afford. They walk back to the Haunted Star in silence, and Kristina calms down, but doesn't let go of his jacket or move away from him. He unlocks the door to his flat and Kristina goes in first, moving away from him for the first time. She takes a seat on the couch, as far on one end as she can get. He takes the cue and sits on the other end, giving her the space she needs. She rests her head on one hand and stares off into space, and Ethan takes a moment to guiltily take in her presence in his flat. It was something he had sorely missed over the last month.

"I have to know why." she finally says, her soft voice penetrating the silence of the flat.

Ethan sighs heavily, and takes a moment before responding.

"I don't...I don't know." he tries, but he watches as she tenses up and decides he needs to be honest, with her and with himself.

"I woke up that morning with you, and I felt....right, I guess. Like everything in my life had been leading up to that moment. You were lying next to me - on top of me really." he chuckles a little at that before continuing. "And you looked....so beautiful, but so young and so innocent. It was then that I realized how much you had been through that night, with Molly, and I had taken advantage of that. So I left to clear my head, to sort out what I was feeling. I ended up at the park and...well, Maya was there. We had some dinner, just as friends, and then we started drinking. It was stupid, I know, but I just...I needed to forget, just for a little while." He ran his hands through his hair, sighing again before continuing. Kristina still wasn't looking at him but he knew she was listening.

"My feelings for you, they're complicated. Much more complicated than I've ever felt for any other woman. You're my best friend, the best one I've ever had, and I was worried that I'd ruined that forever. So I got completely smashed, and....I don't remember anything else until you showed up here the next morning."

He finishes, and Kristina is still silent. He doesn't say anything, doesn't move, for a good five minutes until she responds.

"I don't forgive you." she says, and Ethan feels his stomach drop at her words. That was it then.

She turned to him and finally looked him in the eye again, and for once Ethan couldn't read what was there.

"I don't forgive you." she repeated. "I'm not sure I ever will. But we have to move on from this. You're my best friend too, Ethan. You're the only person who sees me for who I really am. You don't see me as Alexis Davis and Sonny Corinthos' daughter, or the girl who let her boyfriend beat her on a regular basis, or as this fragile child who needs to be protected. You see me, and I need that. I've loved you since that Thanksgiving with the pumpkin cookies, and I've been _in _love with you for just as long. I'm not sure where we go from here, but I need you in my life."

Ethan lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, but he realized the best thing he could do now was to stay silent. After a moment, Kristina reached for the remote and began channel surfing before settling on a movie.

"Popcorn?" she asked, giving him a hint of a smile.

At that moment, Ethan would have given her anything she asked.

By the time the movie's over, Kristina is dozing on his shoulder. They haven't said more than a handful of words to one another, but Ethan can tell they're on the right track. It's getting late, though, so he nudges her until she wakes up.

"It's late, Krissy. Alexis will be wondering where you are." he says once he's sure she's at least half-awake but she shakes her head and burrows into his side.

"Mmm-mm. She's in New York with Mac, Molly's at Sam's." she mumbles and is pretty much asleep before the sentence leaves her mouth. She must have been more exhausted than he thought.

Ethan smiles but knows he needs to get them in a more comfortable position to sleep. He slides off the couch and brings her into his arms as he stands up. She mumbles something he can't understand, but doesn't wake up. He moves them into the bedroom and somehow manages to pull the blankets back enough to slip her underneath them. He strips off his jeans and necklaces before sliding into the other side. He meant to keep his distance, but Kristina quickly flipped over and seemed to find him almost instantly. His arm instinctively went underneath her head and she curled into him. Exhausted himself, Ethan fell asleep almost instantly, geting his first good night's sleep in weeks.

It's the first time since their only time together that he's slept through the night. When he begins to come back to consciousness, he realizes they've shifted during the night. He's curled around Kristina's petite body and she's pressed up against him. The arm not under her neck is wrapped around her waist and hers is resting on top of that arm. They're completely intertwined and Ethan's pretty sure he's never felt more at peace. He had accepted the full spectrum of his feelings for Kristina after she had left his flat that morning.

He, Ethan Lovett, was absolutely, head over heels, stupid ridiculous in love with Kristina Davis.

They had a lot to overcome (the age difference, her parents, his family, and his mistake with Maya just being the tip of the iceberg), but as long as she was in his life he was fairly sure they could survive it. This kind of faith was something he had never experienced with anyone, and he was both excited and scared out of his mind.

He was more than content to lay there as long as possible, but Kristina was beginning to wake up. He went to loosen his grip on the girl, still not sure how she would feel about their current positions, but she only turned over and pulled him closer to her.

"Morning." she mumbled, still half-asleep, and Ethan laughed and dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head.

"Morning love." he greeted, and he saw her smily lazily.

However, almost as soon as the smile appeared on her face it was gone, replaced by a painful grimace.

"Oh, god." Kristina mumbled, pushing Ethan off of her and practically leaping out of the bed. He sat up to follow wherever she was going, but she made a beeline for the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. There was silence for a moment before he heard the distinct sounds of retching. He got up from the bed and stood at the door, knowing there wasn't a whole lot to do for her if she was sick. When there was nothing but silence for a few minutes he knocked on the door lightly.

"Baby, are you alright?" he knew she wasn't, but he didn't know what else to say.

After a moment he heard the sink running and then she reappeared, looking less green but decidedly unhappy.

"I'm ok." she replied, but once again she wasn't looking at him.

His mind whirled as he tried to think of what could have made her sick. They'd never made it beyond the popcorn last night, and she had turned down his offer of coffee in favor of water...

"Kristina," he said, reaching for her arm and beckoning for her attention. "Krissy, are you pregnant?"


	7. Chapter 7: Truth

**Title:** Near To You

**Author:** sarahbell05

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating:** PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse.

**Warnings:** Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count:** 2406

**Summary:** Ethan and Kristina come to terms with their situation, and learn a few things along the way.

**Notes:** This chapter is going to go switch to Kristina's POV for part of it, because I've been wondering what Krissy's thinking is during this whole fic and I couldn't ignore it any longer.

**Truth**

Krissy looks everywhere but at Ethan, and he knows his guess was correct even before her barely audible 'yes.' Ethan feels like the ground is falling out underneath him, and stumbles to the edge of the bed. Krissy sinks down next to him, but doesn't touch him.

"How long have you known?" he asks after what seems like an eternity of silence.

"A few weeks." she replies. "I...I didn't know how to tell you. I thought you'd hate me."

Ethan is shocked, of course, but he knows he could never hate Kristina for something that was clearly an accident. She seems just as distraught by the whole thing, so Ethan takes her hand in his.

"We'll figure it out." he says, though he has no idea exactly how they'll go about that. To begin with, they aren't even in an official 'relationship.' Then there's the fact that Krissy is seventeen - legal, but barely. Hell, he's only twenty three himself. Add to the mix that her father will probably kill him or her mother will have him thrown in jail, and it makes for a _very_ complicated situation.

"Molly knows." Krissy said after a moment. "She came into my room while I was reading the results of the test. She promised not to say anything but I'll have to tell my mom and Sam soon."

"Are you okay? I mean, have you been to a doctor or anything?"

Kristina gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, I went last week and they confirmed it."

"And the...the baby's okay?" He couldn't believe that he was sitting here talking about a baby - _his_ baby - with Kristina Davis. It was like he had stepped into the twilight zone.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I have to go back to Dr. Lee today and she also promised not to tell Mom before I do."

Ethan nods and they lapse into another silence.

"I have to go pick up Molly from Sam's." Kristina says after a few minutes, and Ethan helps her gather her things before walking her to the door.

"Do you want me to go to the doctor with you?" he asks, and Kristina smiles but shakes her head.

"No, thanks. It'll be less suspicious if it's just me. I don't want anyone running off to tell Mom or Sam that I was at the OB/GYN with Ethan Lovett. Alone it just looks like a regular checkup." Ethan nods, knowing she's right.

"Will you come back tonight? We should talk about this more." he says as she steps out into the hallway. She nods, and gives him another small smile before turning toward the exit. Ethan watches her go, and is struck by the silence in his apartment when he closes the door. He quickly showers and puts on a fresh change of clothes and heads down to the casino for the first time in days. Luke had eventually forbidden Ethan from manning the bar until he stopped being so 'sulky.'

Surprisingly for the early hour, Luke was standing behind the bar. He looked particularly rumpled, so Ethan surmised that Luke hadn't been to bed yet.

"Good morning Dodge." Luke greeted

"Good morning." Ethan replied, eyeing his dad up and down. "Rough night?"

"Ah, your beautiful stepmother threw me out of the house. Again."

Ethan couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him at Tracy's bi-weekly dumping of his father. This seemed to pique Luke's interest, and he gave Ethan a smirk.

"Feeling better are we?"

"Uh...yeah, I guess." Ethan replied. He was happy he was on the road to working things out with Kristina, but this whole pregnancy thing was definitely throwing him for a loop.

"Kristina's pregnant." the words leave Ethan's mouth before he can even think about stopping them. Luke freezes, but Ethan can't read him.

"Kristina Davis? Really?" he asks, and Ethan nods. "Hmm, that's too bad. The girl's been through a lot. I'm sure Natasha won't be pleased."

"It's mine." Ethan adds, and flinches when the crash from Luke's glass hitting the floor emanates across the crowded casino.

"What do you mean, it's yours?" Luke asks after a few tense seconds.

"Uh...I mean, it's my baby. Well, mine and Kristina's." Ethan replies, and he watches as Luke stares at the ground and takes a few deep breaths.

"Dodge...you know I'm never one to judge, but knocking up Sonny Corinthos' underage daughter? Not the best of ideas."

"She's seventeen, she's not underage technically." Luke rolls his eyes at this.

"That doesn't matter, not to Sonny."

And Ethan knows he's right.

Krissy brings Molly along to GH as moral support. Her little sister had recovered well after the accident, but if anyone got too curious she could always say she had to have some follow up tests done. Molly continued her never ending list of 'Why Sam and Jason are perfect together' on their way to Dr. Lee's office. Despite everything, the fact that she and Ethan were on the road to being at least best friends again made her feel better about the whole situation. And Molly, despite her young age, had been a true friend and support for her.

Molly (finally) stops her list as they near Dr. Lee's office.

"You seem like you're in a better mood." she says, and Kristina can't fight the little smile that creeps onto her face.

"I am."

"I assume you've made up with Ethan then?" Molly replies, and sometimes Krissy really hates how observant her little sister is.

"Yes, I did. And that's all I'm going to tell you." Krissy replies, a little stern but with a teasing edge. Molly just shrugs and they keep walking.

They're turning a corner when Krissy sees Maya Ward walking toward them. She instantly tenses up and fights down the urge to scratch the other woman's eyes out, surprised at how territorial she obviously is when it comes to Ethan. Maya notices them and makes a beeline for Krissy, and Krissy nudges Molly behind her, worried about what exactly is about to happen.

"Kristina, could I talk to you for a minute?" Maya says evenly, and Krissy crosses her arms in front of her.

"I don't think we have anything to talk about." she replies, looking Maya in the eye.

"Please? I promise, it'll be quick but I don't want to do this in front of your sister." Maya's eyes are pleading, and Kristina has to admit she's curious, so she turns around to Molly.

"I'll be right back. Wait here."

Maya nods and guides them around the corner into an empty room.

"Look," Maya begins, closing the door behind her. "I know how everything looked that morning, and I don't know what exactly is going on between you and Ethan, but I needed you to know that I didn't sleep with him."

Kristina knows shock must be etched across her face, and she can feel her mouth fall open. She shakes it off and resumes her steely gaze.

"I don't believe you."

Maya rolls her eyes at this, and Kristina suddenly really would like to punch her in the face.

"Look, Kristina. You can believe what you want, but I'm telling you the truth here. Yes, we had too much to drink and I crashed at his place. I slept on the couch and he was too far gone, in more ways than one, to make any kind of move on me. That boy, for whatever reason, is head over heels in love with _you_."

With that, Maya left the room, leaving Kristina alone with her thoughts. Ethan had said he didn't remember anything about that night, and Maya was now saying nothing had happened. Perhaps that was the truth? Kristina desperately hoped so, and left the room to find Molly feeling even better.

It's close to five when Ethan feels his phone buzzing in his pocket. He fishes it out and smiles when the screen flashes '_Kristina_'. He opens up the text message, and feels the bundle of nerves loosen a bit at the first sentence.

_everything at the dr went fine. :)_

However, the bundle of nerves triples in size at the next sentence.

_i'm going to tell my mom and sam tonight._

As petrified as it makes him, he quickly writes back, asking if she wants him to be there.

_no, I think they'll take it better if it's just me and molly and them. less targets and all that._

Ethan chuckles, and tells her to call him or come by afterward. She promises she will and Ethan gets back to work. Apparently, the Haunted Star falls apart at the seams whenever he's not there, and he's spent the better part of his day doing the inventory that has gone neglected in his absence.

He's so engrossed with the task at hand that he doesn't hear anyone entering the Haunted Star, and fights down a scream when he's lifted off of the floor and thrown against the wall.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Michael Corinthos yells, and Ethan is frozen as the younger man keeps him pinned to the wall.

"What are you talking about?" he finally asks, and this just seems to make Michael even more angry.

"What am I talking about? _What am I talking about?_ How about that fact that you _knocked up_ my little sister?" Michael replies, shoving Ethan into the wall roughly. Ethan briefly wonders how Michael found out, but before he can ask Dante and Lulu come rushing into the casino.

"Let him go Michael!" Lulu yells, but Michael doesn't flinch.

"No, I think I'm going to kill him." Michael replies nonchalantly, and as his arm moves back Ethan prepares for the impending punch. It doesn't come, and a second later Dante has pulled Michael off of Ethan.

"Thanks mate." says Ethan, rubbing his now sore neck.

"Hey, don't thank me." Dante replies, shoving Ethan's shoulder roughly and pointing his finger in his face.

"How did you find out anyway?" Ethan asks, throwing his hands up.

"Dad told me." Lulu replies from the other side of the bar, and Ethan rolls his eyes. No one in Port Charles is capable of keeping a secret.

"Thanks, Lulu. Krissy hasn't told Alexis yet, and you tell both of her brothers."

"Hey, don't pin this on me. I said work things out with Kristina, not get her pregnant."

"What's going on?" a new voice asks, and everyone turns to see Kristina and Alexis standing by the entrance.

Ethan steps around Dante and Michael to meet the mother and daughter by the door, and gives Kristina an 'are you okay?' look. She nods, but doesn't make a move toward him.

"Hello Alexis." Ethan greets, as friendly as he dares.

"Ethan." she responds, but doesn't look him in the eye. "I think we need to talk."

"Alright Michael, this is over let's go." Dante says, and guides his brother past Ethan (who gets a lethal glare from the Corinthos heir) and Kristina (who gives one right back to Michael). Lulu lets her hand rest on Ethan's arm for a second before following her boyfriend back out of the Haunted Star.

"Why don't we take this upstairs?" Kristian suggests, and they all silently move to Ethan's flat.

As they enter the one-room apartment, Alexis scans it, and Ethan can barely make out a mumbled sarcastic 'no place to put a crib.'

"Well," Alexis finally says after a tension settles over the room. "You two have gotten into quite the predicament. And the last time I checked, you had assured me you were 'just friends.'"

"I told you Mom, it's not like we planned it. It just...happened." Kristina replied, but this just seems to set Alexis off.

"And you didn't think to protect against it somehow? What happened to all of that birth control you went behind my back to get?"

"I stopped taking it after I broke up with Kiefer." Kristina says weakly, and Ethan knows she feels stupid for having to admit to such a thing.

"Look, Alexis..." Ethan tries, but she cuts him off.

"You don't get to talk yet. Not until I say what I have to say." she says, and Ethan takes a seat beside Kristina, pulling her hand into his.

"Kristina you are seventeen years old. Seventeen! You have your whole life ahead of you. How are you going to care for a child? How are you going to go to college? Where are you going to live? In this one-room hovel?"

"Yes, Mom, in this 'one room hovel' if I have to!" Kristina suddenly fires back, her Corinthos side suddenly in full view. Ethan stays frozen in his seat, shocked at the vehemence in Kristina's voice. "I've felt more safe here than I ever have in our house. Ethan makes me feel safe and wanted and loved, and if our child feels even a percentage of that then that will be enough. They might not have the fancy clothes or the gorgeous house or a flashy car but they'll have a better life than I ever could have hoped for because they won't be a Corinthos or a Cassadine, they'll just be a normal kid with parents that loves them unconditionally." Ethan knows Kristina's on the brink of tears, and he stands up next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"This isn't how any of us expected this to happen, Alexis." Ethan adds. "But I love Kristina and I'm going to take care of her and the baby the best that I can and do whatever she needs me to do so she can still do whatever she wants to do as far as college or her career."

Alexis stares at Ethan for a second before collapsing into the chair underneath her. Her face is buried in her hands and Ethan gives Krissy's shoulder a squeeze before nuding her toward her mother.

"Mom..." Kristina chokes out, getting down on her knees to face Alexis. "I'm so sorry." Alexis reaches for Kristina and pulls her into a hug, smoothing down her hair as Ethan can hear Kristina crying. He feels stupid just standing there, but he knows this is probably a moment they needed. Krissy had been handling the whole situation better than anyone could have expected, but at the end of the day she was still a young girl facing a terrifying situation.

And, if Ethan was honest, he was just as terrified.


	8. Chapter 8: Loss

**Title:** Near To You

**Author:** sarahbell05

**Fandom:** General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing:** Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating:** PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse.

**Warnings:** Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count:** 1982

**Summary:** Ethan and Kristina suffer a loss.

**Notes:** Sorry about the wait guys! Had a bit of writer's block with this chapter. And I apologize ahead of time for the angst. Just know that I do believe in happy endings!

**Loss**

Over the next few weeks, things start to settle down as much as they can. Ethan, Krissy, and Alexis all agree that telling Sonny is something that can be put off far (far) into the future. As Kristina has been determined over the preceding months to have as little of a relationship with her father as possible, she decides there's no rush.

Ethan's still not sure where they are in their relationship, and if he's honest with himself he's too afraid to bring it up. They're like they've always been, friendly and comfortable, but there's no kissing and definitely no sex. However, there's that undercurrent of _something_ that confuses Ethan. He eventually has to write it down to the fact that they're having a child together before he drives himself crazy.

Krissy goes on as normally as she can. A few days after telling everyone about the pregnancy, she decided to graduate early and had to work twice as hard as she usually did to get everything wrapped up before December.

Every afternoon, she pops up at the Haunted Star and heads upstairs to his apartment. When he gets off work a few hours later, she's knee-deep in homework but takes a break long enough for them to have dinner together. Afterward, she returns to her homework and he watches telly. When the news would come on, Krissy would pack up her things and head home for the night. It was the closest thing Ethan had ever had to a routine. Ever since his parents had died, he had never wanted a routine, always preferring to coast through life without any ties, any roots. A lot had changed in the year since he had arrived in Port Charles.

"Where exactly are we going?" Kristina asks, looking out of the passenger window at the unfamiliar neighborhood.

"I told you, it's a surprise." Ethan replies, smirking as he watched Krissy roll her eyes. She hated being kept in the dark about anything, but to Ethan that was part of the fun. As she watched houses pass by, Ethan sneaked a glance at her, her hand resting on her still-flat stomach. The thought of becoming a parent still terrified Ethan, but he knew he had to be strong for Kristina's sake. She was taking it all in stride since her breakdown with Alexis, but she was still a seventeen year old girl whose entire life had been turned upside down.

"Okay, we're here." Ethan says as he pulls into the driveway of a rather large white house. Krissy turns and gives him one of her 'looks,' but he shrugs. "Just come on, trust me." he adds before exiting the car.

"This place looks familiar." Krissy says, eying the home as she too exits the car.

"Yeah, it was Luke and his first wife's. I think Lucky lived here for a while too." Ethan replies, leading Krissy up the stairs toward the front door. Producing a key from his pocket, the door opened with a quiet creak to reveal the spacious but fairly empty living room. Ethan beckons Krissy in, and she follows, that uncertain look still on her face.

"So, why are we here?" she asks, crossing her arms in a defensive stance. Ethan chuckles, shaking his head.

"You're the most stubborn woman I've ever met, you know that?" he replies.

"Yes, but that's why you love me." Krissy replies, obviously joking. Despite that, Ethan can't stop the words that leave his mouth next.

"Yes, I do." Krissy freezes, and Ethan's fairly sure she's going to have a panic attack.

"What?" she says after a moment.

"I do. Love you, that is." he says, taking a tentative step toward her. "Whatever you want us to be, that's fine with me, but I thought you should know that." He doesn't add on the fact that he's never said that to a woman in his twenty-three years.

Krissy stares at him for a moment, and Ethan's still not sure that she's not going to have a panic attack, run out the door, or punch him. Slowly, she moves toward him, but Ethan can't read her.

"I love you too." she finally says as she nears him, resting her hand on his chest before looking him in the eye. Ethan's so relieved that he can't stop himself from ignoring his previous statement and bringing his lips down on hers. Krissy doesn't hesitate in her response, wrapping her arms around Ethan as his own arms slip around her waist. It's different from any other kiss they've had before. This one is confident, sure, and true. And absolutely unlike anything Ethan's ever experienced in his life.

After a few moments, Krissy pulls away and smiles in a way that Ethan hasn't seen since before the pregnancy and everything that led up to it. He pushes a lock of hair behind her ear and smiles back, but Krissy soon begins to scan the room again.

"So, seriously, why are we here Ethan?"

"Well, as your mother so kindly pointed out, there's not exactly a whole lot of space in my flat. So I had a talk with Luke and, well, no one's lived here since Lucky moved out and he said Laura would hate to see the place sit empty for so long..."

"Wait..." Krissy replies, moving out of Ethan's arms to look around the room again. "Luke _gave_ you a house?"

"Us. Gave us a house, if we want it. And it's more like...renting without paying. He said it was ours for as long as we want it. And, you know, there's plenty of bedrooms so you could have your own if that's what you want..." Ethan's interrupted when Kristina launches herself at Ethan, pulling him into a hug. Mindful of the baby, Ethan held her as gently as he could.

"Thank you." Kristina whispers after a moment, and Ethan's finally sure he's done something right for once.

Two weeks later, Ethan's moving the last of his things into the old Spencer house. In his short time in Port Charles, he had accumulated more things than he had realized - he supposed subconsciously he'd been planning on hanging around more than he had thought. Alexis had been difficult to convince when it came to Krissy moving, especially moving _in_ with Ethan, but in the end Kristina had stood her ground and told Alexis she wasn't going to depend on her mom or anyone else to take care of her and the baby and that she needed to do this. Slowly, Alexis had warmed up to the idea and by the end she and Sam had (grudgingly) agreed to help move Kristina's things.

"What do you think?" Krissy asks, pulling Ethan out of his thoughts. It's only then that he realizes Kristina is standing on a step ladder positioning a mirror above the mantle.

"Krissy!" Ethan sighs, moving toward her. They'd already been through this several times, with Ethan finding his girlfriend trying to do things pregnant women should be more careful about. However, as usual Kristina only rolled her eyes as Ethan pulled her into his arms. She did smile though, and drop a quick kiss on his lips before making him set her down.

"I was only on the first step Ethan." she said, moving back to look at the mirror from a distance.

"Just ask me when you need something hung okay love?" Ethan should have known not to say such a thing, and he spent the rest of his afternoon hanging various mirrors, artwork, and pictures.

A few hours later, they're both resting on their new couch when their front door is thrown open by Lulu, arms full of bags.

"I've brought dinner!" she exclaims, peaking around the bags of what smells like Chinese long enough to spot the steps in front of her.

"Oh, you're a lifesaver." Ethan exclaims, pushing himself off of the couch and moving to take the bags from his sister, which she happily gave. "Dante's on the way with Michael, Morgan, and Molly." she adds.

"How are you doing?" Lulu asks, and Ethan momentarily thinks she's asking after him until she turns away toward the couch where Kristina is still resting. "How's my future niece or nephew?"

"I'm feeling okay. A little tired, but my symptoms haven't been very bad so far. Just a little morning sickness here and there."

"I can't believe you're already showing!" Lulu replies, pointing out the barely-noticeable bump that seemed to appear overnight. To anyone who didn't know, they would just assume Kristina had had a large meal.

The conversation soon dissolves into name ideas, plans for the nursery, and other things that only serve to heighten Ethan's nerves, so he leaves them to set things out in the kitchen. He begins to pull out the numerous boxes of food when he hears a panicked Lulu yell for him from the living room. The box of rice he's holding in his hand goes crashing onto the countertop as he rushes in to find Kristina nearly doubled over on the couch.

"What happened?" he asks, moving next to a whimpering Kristina.

"I don't know, we were just talking and all of a sudden she started having pain."

"Love, what's wrong?" Ethan asks, pushing Kristina's hair back to find her face contorted in pain, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Ethan...the baby...something's wrong."

Within moments, Lulu had her car keys in her hand, guiding Ethan out of the house as he practically carried Kristina out to her car. He had never seen Lulu drive so fast, and they were bursting through the doors of GH within minutes. Elizabeth spotted them first, and she swept them off to the nearest bed while Epiphany paged Dr. Lee. It must have only taken minutes for Lee to arrive in the ER, but to Ethan it felt like an eternity.

"I'll wait outside." Lulu says, stepping outside of the curtain as Dr. Lee moved the ultrasound machine closer to the bed Kristina was lying in.

Ethan steps forward, taking Kristina's hand with her own. Life had taught him to always expect the worst, but this was one situation where Ethan was desperately hoping everything would be okay.

"Okay, this is going to be cold Kristina." Dr. Lee says, dropping some kind of gel onto Kristina's stomach before bringing the ultrasound wand to her stomach. Immediately, the image on the screen came to life, but Ethan couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"How far along are you Kristina?" Dr. Lee asks, and it's only then that Ethan notices that Kristina is looking in the opposite direction of the screen.

"Eleven weeks." Kristina replies after a moment, still staring at the wall behind Ethan. Dr. Lee doesn't respond, just keeps moving the wand over her stomach. After a few moments, she pulls it away and makes a few notes on the chart before turning back to Ethan and Kristna.

"Kristina..." Dr. Lee starts, but is cut off when a sob escapes Kristina's mouth. The sympathetic look on Dr. Lee's face confirms Ethan's fears and his grip on Kristina's hand tightens.

"I'm sorry, Kristina, Ethan." Dr. Lee continues after a moment. "I can't find a heartbeat. I believe you're having a miscarriage."

"No..." Kristina whimpers, curling in on herself on the bed. Ethan just stands beside her, frozen, until he feels Dr. Lee's hand on his arm.

"Because she's so close to the end of the first trimester, we're going to keep her overnight to monitor her. I'm so sorry Ethan." she says before leaving them alone. Ethan's not sure what to do, so he just takes the chair next to the bed and hold's Kristina's hand as she cries quietly in the bed, and his heart breaks for her, for him, and the child they were supposed to have.


	9. Chapter 9: Duty

**Title**: Near To You

**Author**: sarahbell05

**Fandom**: General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing**: Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating**: PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse.

**Warnings**: Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count**: 2567

**Summary**: Ethan and Kristina deal with their loss.

**Notes**: Yeah...I have no excuses for why this took so long. I had major writer's block with this chapter, and it was incredibly difficult to write. One of the big inspirations for this chapter was The Script's song "For The First Time," so I highly recommend it. I hope y'all enjoy and the final chapter should be out ASAP!

**Duty**

Ethan's allowed to take Kristina home the next morning, with only a prescription for pain pills and an appointment with Lee in a week to show for the night's events. Kristina hasn't said a word since they were given the news, and Ethan doesn't push her. She spent most of the night in a fitful sleep, and Ethan had stayed awake and watched over her.

They arrive back at the house to find it cleaned and most of the empty boxes from their moving excursion gone. He knows Lulu and the others have been here, and he's grateful for once to have such a meddling family. Kristina doesn't notice or doesn't say anything, just moves to the couch and curls up on it. Ethan moves toward her and crouches down so he can be face to face with his girlfriend.

"Do you need anything love?" he asks, but she just shakes her head and stares right through him. He pushes himself up and moves into the kitchen, knowing Kristina needs to be alone. The urge to do something - anything - to help her is raging through him, but it's clear Kristina needs more time to process what's happened and he can't do anything but wait for her to be ready to receive his help.

The next week is by far the hardest week of Ethan's life. The first few days, Kristina does little more than sleep and sit on the couch. He knows she's depressed, if the heartbreak she feels over the loss of their child is anything close to what he feels he's surprised she's still standing. She's a shell, and not even visits from her mom and sisters do anything to lift her spirits even a little.

Soon enough, the week the school gave her is up and she has to return. Ethan watches as she gets dressed in the same methodical, automatic way she has every day for past week. As she leaves, he tries to kiss her goodbye but she discreetly pulls away and gives him a quiet "bye" before heading out the front door and toward her car. He watches her leave before starting to get ready for his day. He's not supposed to be at the Star for another four hours, but the silence of being alone in the big house meant for him, Kristina, and their baby is too much to bear.

Even at the Star, with its distractions and copious amounts of alcohol, he can't escape what's happened. His thoughts are consumed with Kristina, and their lost baby. He couldn't believe that only one week ago he had been moving into a house with his pregnant girlfriend, hanging pictures and happily arguing over nursery decorations. Now, Kristina was little more than a ghost in their house and Ethan was little better. He was trying to be strong for Kristina, but after years of wandering and not caring about anything or anyone, Ethan was kicking himself for letting his guard down. This is what happened when you cared, he said to himself - you got hurt.

"Ethan." Lucky's greeting brings Ethan out of his thoughts, and he manages a small smirk and nod for his brother as he keeps on wiping the same spot on the bar he's been cleaning for the past twenty minutes.

"If you keep doing that, there's going to be a crater in my dad's bar." Lucky says, and Ethan shakes his head and moves the towel away with a mumbled "sorry."

"How's Kristina?" Lucky asks point blank, and Ethan stares at him wide-eyed. He and Lucky have never been especially close, so he assumes he's been chosen as the Spencer/Cassadine/Corinthos family ambassador to Ethan. He's giving Ethan a look, however, that tells him anything but the truth won't be tolerated.

"Not good." Ethan sighs heavily and throws the towel back on the bar, resting his forehead on his hands as he leans on the heavy wood. "She hasn't said more than six words since we came home from hospital. I try to get her to talk to me, but she won't. She just sits on the couch and stares at the television or sleep."

Lucky just looks at him for a moment, in a way that gives Ethan the urge to punch something. Not from anger at Lucky, really, but more from frustration at the entire situation.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." Ethan continues, pushing up away from the bar to pace behind it. "It wasn't supposed to be like this." It's the first time he's voiced any of his feelings about the situation, and if anything it makes the pain worse, because it makes it real.

"Look, Ethan." Lucky finally replies, shaking his head. "There's nothing you could have done or can do to change what happened. Give Kristina time, her whole life changed when she got pregnant, and it's just happened again."

"And my life didn't change?" Ethan snaps back.

"I'm not saying that. But she depends on you, she always has from the moment you met her."

Ethan just sighs, not wanting to voice the thoughts in his head because he can't even believe he's thinking them. He loves Kristina, but he can't help thinking that if he had never met her on the docks that day, had never befriended her, had never let her worm her way into his life and heart, none of this would have ever happened. She'd still be a carefree teenager and he'd still be the mysterious conman passing through town. They wouldn't have both been so close to something great only to have it ripped away from them.

His heart wouldn't be breaking.

He's been at the Haunted Star for only a few hours when he gets the call from Michael. He has his car keys out and is heading toward the door before he even hangs up with his girlfriend's brother. It takes him half the usual time to get to Madison Prep, where Michael was waiting for him outside.

"What happened?" Ethan asks as soon as he stepped out of his car, his eyes searching the area for Kristina.

"Krissy got into a fight with some girls, I'm not sure exactly what was said. The Dean tried to take her to his office, but she just ran off. I tried to stop her, but she got in her car and left before I could. She was really upset though."

Ethan fights his natural urge to yell at the younger boy for letting his emotional girlfriend drive off on her own, and simply nodded and went back to his car. The entire drive back to their house, he hopes and prays that Kristina will be there. His hopes disappear though when he pulls into the empty driveway. He's about to put his car into reverse when he sees a light on on the second story. Deciding it's worth checking out, Ethan gets out of the car and makes his way inside the silent house. Reaching the upstairs, he realizes the light is on in the room that was supposed to be the nursery. Pushing the door aside, it looks exactly as they had left it a week earlier - paint swatches taped to the wall and a few spare pieces of furniture. As he turns to go, a piece of paper on one of the tables catches his eye. Taking it into his hand, he immediately recognizes Kristina's handwriting, despite the shaky penmanship.

_I've gone back to Mom's._

_I'm sorry._

Ethan gives Kristina three days before he goes to the Lakehouse. Three days of miserable loneliness. It's only after she's gone that Ethan realizes how accustomed he was to having her around. Even as lost as she was, she was still the constant in his life. It's the middle of the day, so he's a little surprised when Alexis answers the door. She looks a little worse for wear, but he knows he's bound to look worse. She stares at him for a moment before nodding her head.

"I was wondering how long it would take you." she says, moving aside so he can slip past her. The living room is empty, and Alexis soon draws his attention back to her. "Ethan, I...I don't know what to do here. She won't talk to me, or Sam, or even Molly. She just...goes through the motions. Eats, bathes, sleeps, but nothing else. She only responds when you ask her something directly, and even then it's only a few words at a time. I thought she was doing a little better, but then she showed up here and asked if she could move back home. What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Michael said she got into a fight with some girls at Madison, and when I came home..." Ethan can't finish the sentence, the hurt and anger and resentment over finding Kristina gone still too fresh. He doesn't have to continue, though, because Alexis immediately raises her hand to silence him.

"I know I haven't been...the most supportive about this whole situation. I've always thought that you were too old for Kristina, that you were both too young to have a child. However, I know what you mean to her. If anyone can get through to her, it's you Ethan."

After Alexis dismisses him, Ethan makes his way toward Kristina's bedroom. He can hear the TV coming from her room, but it's the only sound he hears. Deciding that if he knocks she'll probably just tell him to go away, he pushes the door open as quietly as he can. She's curled up on top of the bed, hugging a pillow. Whatever old movie she's watching has obviously put her to sleep, and Ethan moves toward her.

As he sits next to her on the bed, he can't fight the urge to touch her, pushing the hair out of her face. This rouses her, and in her half-asleep state she smiles at him as she opens her eyes.

"Ethan." she whispers, and for a moment they're like they were only a few weeks ago. She's his Krissy again, and he's the reluctant hero of her daydreams. Too soon, though, she comes crashing back to reality and pushes him away, moving as far away from him as she can on the small bed, pulling her knees up around her chest.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asks, her voice full of nervous tension. She's looking anywhere but at Ethan, so he just sighs and replies honestly.

"I'm worried about you. You just left, Kristina."

"I left a note." she replies, and Ethan can tell even she knows that's lame.

"What happened at the school?" he asks, and Kristina is off the bed like it's on fire, pacing around the room.

"I don't want to talk about it." she says, but now Ethan's determined to know even more. He pushes himself off the bed and tries to get her attention. when it doesn't work, he places his hand on her arm.

This sets her off again, and she pushes him away with more force than he thought she could muster. He nearly trips over the bed, but catches himself. He looks back at Kristina, and sees her eyes filled with shock. Her hand claps over her mouth and he can see the tears welling in her eyes. She sobs loudly and within a second Ethan's arms are wrapped around her. She fights him, trying to push him away, but he only holds on tighter, prepared this time.

"Ethan...please...don't..." He's not sure what she means, but he has a feeling she doesn't either. She continues to sob heavily, but she soon stops trying to push him away, instead clinging to his shirt.

Somehow, he guides them to the bed and pulls her down on top of him. She never lets go of his shirt, and continues to cry. He hasn't seen her cry since that first night at the hospital, so he's thankful she's finally getting some of this out of her system. He's not sure how long they stay there, but they eventually both doze off. When he awakens, the sun is starting to set and Kristina is making little circles with her finger on his shirt. He moves slightly to let her know he's awake, moving his arm tighter around her shoulders. Her finger stops moving, but she doesn't try to pull away.

"They said I deserved it." she says after a few moments. "Those girls at school. They said I deserved to lose the baby, for leaving a 'nice guy' like Kiefer for some conman. That it was God's way of making me pay for my sins."

Ethan's silent, his body filling with rage at these girls he doesn't even know. He forces himself to calm down, though, knowing that Kristina needs support and not some caveman trying to protect her.

"They're wrong, Krissy. You didn't deserve any of this, _we_ didn't deserve any of this. It's a horrible tragedy, but it isn't God's work or anyone else's. It was an accident, and none of it was your fault."

"But it is, don't you see?" Kristina says, pushing off of him so she can sit up. "I pushed myself too hard. You kept telling me to take it easy, and I didn't listen. I pushed and pushed and refused to listen and then..."

"Kristina." Ethan replies, sitting up himself and taking her hands in his. "There was nothing you could have done, you know that. Dr. Lee said, it wasn't anything you did or didn't do. It just happened. And anyone who tries to tell you different is wrong. You know the truth, and I know the truth, and we love each other and that's all that matters."

"You still love me?" Kristina asks, the shock on her face feeling like a punch in the gut to Ethan. He cups her face with his hands, wiping away the fresh tears slipping down her face.

"Krissy, I don't know when it happened, or how, or why, but I think I've loved you since that first day on the docks when I saw you fighting with Michael. I wanted to believe I just had a soft spot for you because you were a sweet girl in a horrible situation, but then you became my best friend - the best friend I've ever had. Then you got pregnant and for the first time in years I was going to have a family. With you. So, yes, I still love you. I always will Kristina, don't you get that?"

Kristina doesn't respond, just sobs once more and leans in toward him, her lips brushing his. It's the first time she's kissed him in weeks, and it feels like coming home to Ethan. He responds, pulling her into his lap. He lets his lips drift down her jar and toward her neck. Kristina breathes heavily against him, and occasionally he hears whispers of "love" and "so sorry." When it goes as far as he dares in her mother's house, he pulls away, looking her in the eye.

"So, are you coming home now?" he asks, and even if Kristina's smile is still not what it used to be, that and her nod of assent are enough to make him pull her toward him once again.


	10. Chapter 10: Loyalty

**Title**: Near To You

**Author**: sarahbell05

**Fandom**: General Hospital

**Characters/Pairing**: Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis

**Rating**: PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse.

**Warnings**: Kristina is a teenager and Ethan is in his early twenties.

**Word Count**: 1082

**Summary**: Ethan and Kristina get a new beginning

**Notes**: Well, this is it. The final chapter. It's short, but I felt like it got the point across and I didn't want to add a bunch of fluff as I felt it wasn't needed. I started writing this over a year ago, and it's really one of my favorite things I've ever done. So, thanks everyone for reading and I hope you enjoy the ending! Just a quick note, this takes place about a year after the previous chapter.

**Loyalty**

Sam pins up the last lock of Kristina's hair, gives her work a once-over, and nods with satisfaction.

"Okay, I'm done. What do you think?"

Kristina turns in her chair and faces the small mirror on the vanity. She had given her older sister free reign over her hair and makeup, and she was shocked by the woman reflected back at her.

"Oh no, you hate it." Sam says, panic in her eyes.

"No, no, I love it!" Kristina replies quickly, glancing back at Sam before being drawn back to the mirror. "I just can't believe how...grown up I look." Sam laughs at that and wraps her arms around Kristina, hugging her tightly.

"Well, you should feel grown up. It is your wedding day, after all."

The words _wedding day_ send a number of emotions flying through Kristina's body. She had known it was coming for months, but for the actual moment to be here was different. This was it, and she was surprised to find that, while she was definitely nervous and anxious, there was no fear.

Kristina is pulled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door and the appearance of Carly.

"It's time, guys." she says excitedly, and slips into the room with Molly and Lulu behind her. Sam, Lulu, and Molly were dressed in identical green dresses, her two sisters serving as bridesmaids while Lulu was bucking tradition as Ethan's "best woman." Kristina thought it fit them perfectly, as she and Ethan were anything but a traditional couple.

Kristina untied the robe protecting her dress, everyone finally getting the full effect. Kristina had opted for a simple one-shoulder dress, the design flattering her instead of drowning her like most of the dresses she had tried had done. When she looks up, she sees all four of the women looking at her and she suddenly feels extremely self-conscious.

"What?" she asks, eyeing the dress for any imperfections.

"You look so beautiful, sweetie." Carly finally says, pulling her into her arms.

"You really do. Ethan's going to think you're the most beautiful woman in the world." Molly added, in that 'isn't love wonderful?' voice she always used whenever talking about anything vaguely romantic.

"Well, he better already think that." Lulu replied, enveloping Kristina in her arms the moment Carly let her go.

"Struggling to breathe here, guys." Kristina joked, prompting Lulu to let her go. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the simple bouquet resting on the vanity and gave herself a final once over.

"Here we go." she said, and led the group out of the dressing room.

As Kristina turned a corner, her mom came into view, standing in front of the closed doors leading into the small chapel. She had done good about not crying so far, but the moment she locked eyes with her mom she felt like a ten year old again and fought the urge to run into her mother's arms. She was a "grown up" now and getting married, after all. However, she didn't have to fight the urge as Alexis pulled her into a tight hug the moment she was close enough.

"Oh, my baby." Alexis whispers, pulling away to hold Kristina's face in her hands. "You look so beautiful."

"Don't make me cry, you'll ruin all of Sam's hard work." Kristina replies, her voice cracking but still holding it together.

"Well, we don't want that." Alexis replies, hugging her quickly once more before stepping away. It's only then that Kristina notices her father, standing alone in a nearby corner, watching her.

Well, Dad?" she asks, gesturing down to her dress. Sonny doesn't answer, only steps forward and hugs her as well.

"You're beautiful." he whispers in her ear, and Kristina smiles. She had and her father have had their ups and downs, but she wouldn't want to have this day without him.

"Okay, I'm going in. I'll see you soon." Lulu says, pulling Carly and Alexis into the chapel with her, leaving Krissy alone with her dad and sisters.

"I guess this is it." Kristina says, taking a deep breath and giving them her best smile. Sonny guides her away from the doorway as they open up for Sam and then Molly. She vaguely registers Sonny slipping her arm through his, the music changing, and then finally the two of them moving toward the doorway.

The moment they step into the doorway, though, her eyes lock with Ethan's and he's all she can see. She's only seen him dressed up a handful of times, and it takes her breath away. She watches as a smile appear on his face, and feels her own smile grow in return. This is it, where she always knew they'd be, even before she was ready to accept it. In an instant it seems, she's at the altar, Sonny kissing her on the cheek and taking his seat next to Brenda.

It's a simple ceremony, and they both had insisted on making it as short and sweet as possible. There's no grandiose declarations of eternal love or promises of how it will be. They simply repeat the same traditional vows couples have for centuries, those words and their faith in one another being enough for the both of them. They only break for tradition long enough to light a single white candle, a representation of the child they had loved and lost. The baby who was never meant for this world but brought them together in ways they never could have imagined. It's the only time during the ceremony that Kristina cries.

When she slips the ring onto Ethan's finger, it seems to finally sink in for both of them that this is really happening. She looks up at him and they both start to laugh. Lulu and Sam give them strange looks from each side of the altar, but eventually just shake their heads and the ceremony continues. Soon, they're declared husband and wife and the entire congregation erupts into applause as Ethan pulls Kristina toward him. It's a simple kiss, but it sets Kristina on fire. She's kissed him a hundred times before, but this is...different.

"I love you." Ethan whispers as he pulls away. He doesn't say it often - he doesn't need to - but Kristina savors it.

"I love you too." she replies, slipping her hand into his. This is it, after so long, she's Kristina Lovett, Ethan's wife.

And it feels nothing but right.


End file.
